Born in 1985, Eshantha Joseph Peiris is a freelance musician currently based in Sri Lanka. Having grown up in Colombo in an environment that included taking piano and violin lessons (with Ramya Perera and Ananda Dabare), as well as being involved with orchestras, choirs, a cappella groups and rock bands, Eshantha soon developed an ear for working within a variety of musical settings. During this time, he also appeared as a piano soloist with the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka and the Amsterdam Chamber Ensemble.
After being the recipient of a sponsorship from Prima Ceylon Pvt. Ltd., Eshantha headed to the USA in pursuit of a Bachelor of Music degree in classical Piano Performance at NYU's Steinhardt School. Having previously earned a diploma from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, he continued his piano studies with Eduardus Halim and graduated summa cum laude in January 2006 (he had earlier been voted 'student of the year' by the music department's student body). In January 2008 he graduated with an M.A in Music Composition and Scoring for Film and Multimedia, having studied composition with Ira Newborn, Jim McNeely and Mark Adamo. During this time, he also served as an adjunct piano instructor at NYUSteinhardt and as assistant conductor of the NYU orchestra.
Since his return to Sri Lanka this summer, Eshantha has been actively involved on the local music scene, playing keyboards in the fusion-jazz band 'Thriloka', directing the 'Old Joes Choir' and the 'Contempo Choir', and being an associate conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka. He is director of the recently founded 'Aumkar School of Multicultural Arts'
Hi Eshantha - how are you doing? Where do you live now? I hope all is going well with you and your music! - I miss your playing our piano! It's been silent lately now that Heather has moved out and is so busy with work!
